Hey guys, I’m planning on setting up Adalight for my monitor, but I have a question.
Should I go for SK9822’s or APA102s?
I saw that both are supported and the difference between them is that, according to focalintent,
“apa102 latches in the new color immediately, while the sk9822 waits for the end frame - the sk9822 behavior is, imho, “better” because it means all the leds will update to their new color at the same vs the apa102 which will see the update slide down the strip as data gets sent”.
Does that mean if I setup Adalight, can the LEDs change color separately as the screen changes or will it have to change the whole strip, thus ruining the ambilight effect. I’m a bit confused on that.
If it’s not the latter, then I assume getting the SK9822’s would be better than APA102s correct?
Also, will a 5V power supply be enough to power 120 LEDs? Planning on getting 2M 60 LED strips because I have a 27" monitor.
Many sellers mix and match SK9822s and APA102s. It seems that most are probably SK9822s at the moment whatever they’re advertised as.
They have to powered with 5 volts, 120 LEDs will draw up to 60 mA each which works out at 7.2 amps on full bright white. If you’re planning on turning them up all the way you’ll need an 8 Amp power supply. If you’re not going to run them on full white you can get away with a smaller one and limit the maximum current in the code.
updates are always done for the entire strip at a time. However, there is a delay between when led data gets sent down the strip and when the led starts displaying the new color. With the SK9822 all the leds in the strip will change to the new color at the same time, while with the APA102’s, each led will change color as soon as it gets the new color data.
You are unlikely to really notice this unless you are running at really low data rates, have very long interrupt intervals, or are doing POV work.
Also - it’s not the voltage the determines if the power supply will be enough - you will have to use a 5v power supply. It’s the amps that determine whether or not you will have enough.
Depending on brightness that you will be running the leds at, you will want at least a 2 amp (2A) power supply. Maybe more like 4-5A.
@Daniel_Garcia@Jeremy_Spencer thank you, so would you recommend going for the SK9822 or the APA102s for my usage (adalight/ambilight) since I have the option to choose. Which one is the better buy?